2nd Edition

AN INTRODUCTION FOR THE CLASSROOM

BY

LAWRENCE E. JONES

THE SUNDIAL AND GEOMETRY

AN INTRODUCTION FOR THE CLASSROOM
BY

LAWRENCE E. JONES

NORTH AMERICAN SUNDIAL SOCIETY - 2005

SECOND EDITION
2005 LAWRENCE E. JONES WOODSTOCK, CT
EDITED BY FREDERICK W. SAWYER III

FIRST EDITION
1980 J. WESTON WALCH, PUBLISHER PORTLAND, ME

PUBLISHED BY

NORTH AMERICAN SUNDIAL SOCIETY

8 SACHEM DRIVE, GLASTONBURY CT 06033
[email protected]
SUNDIALS.ORG

CONTENTS
Introduction
I

II

III

IV

HISTORY OF THE SUNDIAL

Section 1 The Classical Period
Section 2 The Beginnings of Modern Dialing
Section 3 The Colonial Period
DELINEATION OF THE HORIZONTAL SUNDIAL
Section 4 The Classroom Sundial
Section 5 On Finding True North
Section 6 The Geometric Method
Section 7 The Sundial Formula
Section 8 The Alignment Chart Method
CORRECTIONS TO THE SUNDIAL READING
Section 9 Conversion from Sun Time to Clock Time
Section 10 The Equation of Time
Section 11 Adjusting the Dial for Exact Longitude
SOME CLASSICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Section 12 Mottoes and Meditations
Section 13 The Classical Sundials
Section 14 A Pseudo-Universal Sundial
FOUR SPECIAL SUNDIALS
Section 15 The Largest Sundial
Section 16 The Pelekinon Sundial
Section 17 The South Vertical Declining Sundial
Section 18 Be Your Own Gnomon
Bibliography
Appendix I Equation of Time
Appendix II Solar Declination
Appendix III Latitude and Longitude for Selected
North American Cities

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6
7
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15
16
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22
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27
30
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38
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39
42
46
50
51
52
55

INTRODUCTION 2005
The expanding membership of NASS, the North American Sundial Society, has created several
requests from new members and from teachers for introductory level materials about sundials.
When Fred Sawyer asked me if my book The Sundial and Geometry could be updated and
reprinted, I was delighted to say yes.
However, the book had been out of print for some years and needed some dusting off and
recharging. I asked Mr. Sawyer to do this, and he has done a magnificent job getting the history
into proper order and updating where newer information has become available. He has improved
the nomogram in section 8 with a new computer generated version which greatly improves the
precision.

INTRODUCTION 1979
The genesis of this booklet goes back quite a few years to my early teaching days when I wrote
out steps to make a sundial for a class that was learning to use a protractor. During succeeding
years, as youngsters responded, my interest in sundials grew, and applications to all levels of
classes began to present themselves.
The earliest attempts to use the sun for indicating time are lost in history. The use of the sundial
for regulating time reached its zenith during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Hundreds
of texts were written on the subject, and every aspect of sundial theory was explored. Some of
the books available today are listed in the bibliography. These books are essentially modern
renditions of the old texts, and this booklet is drawn from them. No originality is claimed by this
writer other than an occasional expression of a point of view or a variation in the sequence of
presentation.
The heart of this booklet is Chapter II, "Delineation Of The Horizontal Sundial." Applications
from this chapter require only minimal mathematical understanding. The material collectively is
well within the reach of high-school mathematics. No effort has been made to list specific
applications to schoolroom use; in this I follow the principle that self-discovery and personalized
presentation are fundamental to good teaching.
Particular thanks are due my colleagues Mr. Jack Allen for the drawings of the historic sundials
and Mrs. Elizabeth Meigs for her help with the details of the manuscript.
I sincerely hope this material will find its way, through devoted teachers, to students in
classrooms and that from it, their understanding of mathematics and life itself may be
enlightened even a little.

QUI DOCET DISCIT

(He who teaches, learns)

The earth obeys two rules of motion. It rotates on its axis to give us day and night. It orbits the sun to give
us the seasons.

HISTORY OF THE SUNDIAL

Section 1 The Classsical Period
A sundial, in its broadest sense, is any device that uses the motion of the apparent
sun to cause a shadow or a spot of light to fall on a reference scale indicating the
passage of time. The invention of the sundial is lost in the obscurity of ancient
times. But we can imagine some of the factors that led up to its invention.
Very early in our history, humans must have observed the shadows cast by trees
and noticed that the shadows grew shorter as the morning wore on and then grew
longer again after midday. Thus, if a shadow a little after sunup was twice as long
as the height of a stick, then, in the afternoon, when the shadow was again twice as
long as the height of the stick, there would be that same amount of time left before
sundown (see Figure 1).

It seems to us, as it did to the ancients, that the earth is stationary and the sun moves across the sky.
Actually, the sun is stationary (as shown by Nicolaus Copernicus, A.D. 1543) and the earth is in motion,
spinning on its axis as it orbits around the sun. However, the shadows would be the same no matter which
heavenly body was in motion. The "apparent" sun is understood to be the actual sun we see that does
indeed appear to us - as opposed to the fictional mean sun that we will discuss later.
The Sundial And Geometry

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Fig.l The length of the shadow is a crude indication of the passage of time. A morning shadow
of given length (direction not considered) and an afternoon shadow of the same length would
represent equal periods of time before or after noon.

The shadow of a vertical object like the spear, or in later times a tall obelisk, can be
used in two ways to indicate the passing of time. The first method, which uses the
changing length of the shadow, is illustrated above. The second method uses the
changing direction of the shadow. In the morning as the sun rises in the east, the
shadow points west. Then, as the day advances, the shadow first swings to the
north and then to the east, where it points when the sun sets in the west.
The direction method has been preferred historically over the length of shadow
method. The problem with the latter is that shadows are shorter in the summer
than in the winter because the earth is tilted toward the sun in summer and away
from the sun in the winter.

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Lawrence E. Jones

Fig.2 The length of the

noon shadow in summer is
GS, and in winter it
stretches to GW. The same
is true for any other hour of
the day.

The summer and winter paths of the sun can easily be traced out by experiment.
With a gnomon secured firmly in place, simply set a stone at the various positions
of the tip of the shadow five or six times each day, then connect these positions.
The result is a graphic illustration of the relationship of the sun to the seasons. The
shortest shadow is traced about June 21, and the longest about December 22. The
straight-line shadow occurs about March 21 and again about September 23. Such a
basic knowledge of the seasons was essential to the earliest agricultural societies,
so we might assume that their need gave rise to the first primitive sundials. The
Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 B.C.) stated in his writings that the sundial
originated in Babylonia in the fertile valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
As time went on, peoples needs grew more complex and so did the design of the
sundial. A major change was that markings were introduced to show the passage
of the hours of the day. The oldest sundial in existence falls into this latter
category. It is of Egyptian origin and dates to the time of Thutmose III (fifteenth
century B.C.). This portable stone device, housed today in the Berlin Museum, is
L-shaped and may have been topped by another straight piece as shown in the
figure (see Figure 3). Different versions of how this dial was used have been
offered. According to one view, the cross piece was placed facing east before
noon and facing west after noon, and the shadow of the top bar indicated the time
among the markings on the lower bar. Another view is that the dial (perhaps
without the top bar but with some other sort of capstone) was always placed
directly towards the sun, so that the shadow of the elevated portion indicated the
time by where it fell among the hour markings.

The object that casts the shadow, such as a pole or obelisk, is generally called the "gnomon," a word of
Greek origin meaning "one who knows."
The Sundial And Geometry

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A number of simple sundial designs

were developed in the Greek classical
period. Aristarchus of Samos (3rd
century B.C.) is said to have designed
the sundial called a "hemispherium"
(see Figure 4). A stone hemisphere
was hollowed out; then the gnomon,
a vertical pin, was set in the center
point. The tip of the pin traced, in
reverse, the path of the sun as it
moved across the sky.
Vertical
markings on the surface divided the
daylight period into twelve temporary
Fig. 3. The oldest sundial extant. c1500 B.C.
hours,
and
horizontal
lines
delineated the seasons or months. A
similar type of sundial was found at the base of Cleopatra's Needle in Alexandria
when that site was excavated in 1852 (see Figure 5). It is now in the British
Museum.

Fig. 4: The hemispherium of Aristarchus.

Fig. 5: The hemicyclium of Berossos

The pelekinon is another sundial of the Greek period. The word pelekinon comes
from the Greek word for a double-headed axe, which perfectly describes the
appearance of the temporary hour lines on this sundial. A perpendicular pole
served as the gnomon, and the dial face showed not only the seasonal lines but also
the hour lines. This sundial could be drawn on vertical as well as horizontal
surfaces (see Figure 7).

A temporary hour is 1/12th the time that the sun is above the horizon on any given day. Temporary
hours are longer in the summer and shorter in the winter. They were the common measure of time until
about the end of the 14th century.

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Lawrence E. Jones

Although mathematical knowledge, such as astronomy, the geometry of Euclid

(300 B.C.), and the foundations of trigonometry of Hipparchus (160-125 B.C.) was
growing, there is simply no evidence to suppose that any methods other than
empirical ones were used to construct hour lines. However, the seasonal lines,
hyperbolic in shape, could by this period be accurately calculated mathematically
for any latitude.

Fig. 6: Pelekinon dial.

Fig. 7: Modern Pelekinon Cube Dial. Bloomfield CT

Though each of the new designs had brought improvements, all of the early
sundials indicated the time as measured in temporary hours; that is, they were
based on a division of daylight into twelve equal periods. Since the sun's position
in the sky changes every day, the length of the day, sunup to sundown, changes
too. Therefore, each of the twelve periods in a summer day was much longer than
each in a winter day. In addition to this seasonal change, there was a change
between day and night. For example, each period in a summer "day" was much
longer than each period in a summer "night."
This arrangement may seem strange to us today, but it was the way time was
reckoned for over 2500 years. This method of timekeeping based on temporary
hours remained in use until about the fourteenth century, when mechanical clocks
became popular. They were less versatile than sundials and could not indicate
hours of varying length; their unit of time had to be one of equal length throughout
the year. As the popular notion of timekeeping changed, so did the design of
sundials, and sundials were developed that can also measure time in equal hours.

The Sundial And Geometry

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Section 2 The Beginnings of Modern Dialing

Over the centuries, many types of clepsydra (water clock, literally
water thief) and clepsammia (sandglass or hourglass) were popular
as timekeeping instruments, but they were all subordinate to the
sundial. However, very little is known about exactly how and
when sundials made the transition from indicating temporary
hours to indicating equal hours, i.e., hours that are each one
twenty-fourth of an average day.
By the end of the 10th century, Arab astronomers certainly were aware of the great
discovery (see Figure 8) of modern gnomonics that using a gnomon that is
parallel to the earths axis will produce sundials whose hour lines indicate equal
hours on any day of the year. A dial of this type was made by the astronomer Ibn
al-Shatir for the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus in 1371. It is the oldest polar-axis
sundial still in existence.

Fig. 8. The great discovery

It took much longer for the idea of a polar-axis sundial to make its appearance in
Europe. The oldest extant examples are probably a 1446 dial in Germany and
several Austrian dials from the period 1447 - 1457. However, none of the many
14th and 15th century European texts on sundial construction mentions the idea of a
polar-axis gnomon to indicate equal hours.
The first books to deal with modern dialing, using equal hours, appeared in the 16th
century. Sebastian Mnster published Compositio Horologiorum in Basel in 1531,

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and Oronce Fin published Protomathesis in Paris in the following year.

Mnsters book was the first treatise on the new form of sundials; for this reason,
he is sometimes referred to as the Father of Modern Gnomonics. However,
almost nothing in his book is claimed as original, and he clearly wrote it more as a
comprehensive summary of contemporary techniques than as the introduction of a
revolutionary new idea.
After the 16th century, everyone in Europe, it would seem, was conversant with the
art of dialing. Visitors to the birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton are dutifully shown the
ceiling dial made by young Isaac. He used a mirror on the windowsill to reflect the
suns rays onto the ceiling where hour lines had been drawn. The art of dialing, or
gnomonics, held an honored place in the school curriculum. Every mathematics
book had chapters on dialing, and many books were devoted entirely to the subject.
The earliest mechanical clocks were woefully inaccurate. Even the pendulum
clocks of the 1700s needed a standard for setting and checking. The sundial
served that purpose. By the time of the American Revolution, however, mechanical
clocks had greatly improved and had begun to replace the sundial as the timepiece
of choice.
Section 3 The Colonial Period
In early America a sundial was a luxury and, therefore, rare. By
the 1820s, Eli Terry, with waterpower and mass-production
methods, had placed an inexpensive wooden-works clock in
nearly everyone's home. The sundial was more or less driven
into retirement as a garden ornament. Nevertheless, dialing had its enthusiasts well
after its decline in popularity.
The earliest sundial to reach the continent was probably the one erected by
Champlain in 1608. It was placed on the building of the Habitation, which marked
the founding of Quebec City.1 The earliest sundial in the U.S. arrived in 1638 (see
Figure 9). It accompanied a clock commissioned by Governor John Endicott of
Massachusetts. The clock and the sundial were made in London, but the sundial
was calibrated for Boston and was used as the standard by which to set and
regulate the clock.2
1

Malcolm M. Thomson, "Sundials," The Physics Teacher Journal, Volume 10, Number 3.

Leonard V. Short, Jr. "The Endicott Sundial," Sundials and More (booklet), New Ipswich, New
Hampshire.

The Sundial And Geometry

Page 7

Fig. 9. The Endicott sundial. This sundial is on exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem,
Massachusetts. (Drawing by Jack Allen, from a photograph by Leonard V. Short.)

Another historic sundial was placed on the State House in Boston when it was built
in 1713. That wood dial was lost long ago, but when the building was refurbished
in 1957, a new one was made from an old engraving showing the original dial (see
Figure 10). This replica dial has since been removed.

Fig. 10. Replica of 1713 Dial on the

Old State House, Boston, MA.

Fig. 11. A slate dial, 1722. Found in Nova Scotia.

A slate sundial, dated 1722, was recovered during excavations and restoration of
the Fortress of Louisbourg, in Nova Scotia (see Figure 11). The motto, incomplete
because of a missing piece, probably read Sum Sine Sole Nihil, which means
Without the Sun I am Nothing.

Thomson, Sundials.

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Lawrence E. Jones

Fig. 12. Dial at Quebec Seminary, 1773. Motto is I Chronicles 29:15. Our Days on Earth Are
Like a Shadow.

Benjamin Franklin was an enthusiastic student of the sundial. It was through his
influence that the first U.S. coin, the Fugio Cent, was cast with a sundial design
and the motto "Mind Your Business." It was minted in 1787 under the authority of
the Continental Congress. Franklin did not originate the motto; he brought it

Fig. 13. The Fugio Cent, 1787.

The Sundial And Geometry

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back from London where he had spent considerable time studying the English
postal service. On the Post Office building there was a sundial with a similar
motto.
Alice Morse Earle explains the origin of this motto in her book, Sun-Dials and
Roses of Yesterday:
Legend has it that when the dial was first put up, the dial maker enquired if he
should paint a motto under it as was customary. The Benchers assented and
instructed him to call at the library on a certain day and hour, at . which time they
would have agreed upon the motto. It appears, however, that they had totally
forgotten to do this, and when the dial maker appeared at the appointed time and
enquired for the motto, the lone librarian, who knew nothing about it, replied with
some irritation, 'Be Gone About Your Business." The dial maker, by design, or
mistake, chose to take this curt reply as an answer to his enquiry and the dial was
accordingly painted. The Benchers, when they saw it, decided that it was very
appropriate and that they would let it stand, chance having done their work for
them as well as they could have done it for themselves.
George Washington is known to have carried a pocket dial in preference to a watch
in the American Revolution. In 1811 Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Charles Clay,
tells how he amused himself during an illness by calculating a sundial scaled for
each five minutes of time. He sent his directions along so that Mr. Clay's young
son could make the sundial.
In France, as late as the beginning of the twentieth century, one of the leading
railroads used the sundial to regulate the watches of its trainmen. This dial was a
precisely machined sun clock called a heliochronometer.
There is a common but erroneous belief that a sundial is not very accurate. The
sundial indicates local time (also called sun time), while our watches indicate Civil
time, known in the United States as Standard Time. The inaccuracy is not in the
sundial, but in the translation from local time to Civil time. Most persons are not
aware that these two times can differ by fifteen minutes or more, and so,
unfortunately, the casual observer declares the sundial inaccurate. How this easy
translation is done will be presented in later chapters.

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Lawrence E. Jones

II

Charles Leadbetter, Mechanick Dialling, London, 1737

DELINEATION OF THE HORIZONTAL SUNDIAL

Section 4 The Classroom Sundial
A sundial consists of two parts. The Dialface is a flat surface on which are drawn
the lines that label the hours of time. The Gnomon is a triangular shape that rises
perpendicular above the dial face with its slanted edge equal in degrees to the local
latitude. When the sun shines, the gnomon casts a shadow on the dialface. The
time is read from the scale on the hour lines at the point indicated by the shadow of
the gnomon.
The hour lines drawn on the dialface are calculated from the sundial formula

= arctan(sin tan 15n )

where n is the number of hours before or past noon, is the local latitude, and is
the angle value that determines where to draw the hour lines. Before making the
classroom sundial, a table giving the values must be consulted, or a formula
should be used to determine the values for your exact latitude.

Latitude and longitude can be found from a map of your local area in the Rand McNally Road Atlas. On
the Internet, such sites as www.multimap.com or www.multimap.com also provide this information.
The Sundial And Geometry

Page 11

Fig. 14. Dialface layout and cutout for gnomon.

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Lawrence E. Jones

Directions for Making a Classroom Sundial (see Figure 14)

1. On a 3 x 5 card, lay out line DC perpendicular to IJ.

2. Place a protractor on D along DC and measure each hour angle for your latitude.
Indicate each measure around the edge of the protractor with a dot. The morning
hour angles are measured to the left of the noon line DC, and the afternoon hour
angles, which are symmetric to those of the morning, are measured to the nght of
the noon line.
3. Connect D with each dot. These are the hour lines, which are labeled from 6
A.M. at point I, through 12 noon at point C, and on to 6 P.M. at point J (see Figure
14a).
4. Measure angle CDB equal to your latitude (see Figure 14b, which is the same as
Figure 14a but with the hour marks left out for clarity). Draw XY perpendicular to
DC and in line with point B. Connect B with some point Z on line DC. Draw a
semicircle using XY as its diameter.
5. With a sharp blade, cut along lines BD and BZ, and around the semicircle. Also
cut a one-quarter inch slit at W into the semicircle flap.
6. Crease the semicircle and the triangle so they stand up along the lines XY and
DZ respectively. The slit in the semicircle will fit on the triangle to hold the
gnomon erect.
7. Place the sundial in the sun. The dialface must be perfectly level and the noon
line DC point to true north. D is the south end and C is the north end. (Procedure
for finding true north is in Section 5.)
8. As a final step, the sundial should be adorned with an appropriate motto (see
Figure 15).
In summer, Daylight Saving
Time is in use, so it would be
desirable to have the sundial
scaled accordingly. To do so,
each hour label is increased by
one. Thus the DI line becomes
7 A.M., the DC line becomes 1
P.M., and the DJ line becomes
7 P.M. (see Figure 15).
Fig. 15. Motto The Shadow Teaches. The hours are
labeled for Daylight Saving Time.
The Sundial And Geometry

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Section 5 On Finding True North

Use of the magnetic compass is not a reliable way of
establishing a meridian line, i.e., finding the north-south line.
The compass points to the magnetic pole, which (in 2004) is just
to the west of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, considerably
distant from the actual north pole. In the eastern United States
this causes the compass to decline towards the west by as much as 20 or more
degrees, while in the western United States the compass can decline towards the
east by as much. A line of near zero declination runs west of the Great Lakes,
through the western portions of Wisconsin and Illinois, splitting Mississippi in half
and entering the Gulf of Mexico around New Orleans. The pole and this line are
constantly shifting. So, unless the exact current declination for your area is known
and compensated for, the compass does not indicate true north.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west and must, therefore, cross the northsouth line. This crossing occurs at midday. The following method for finding true
north is based on this principle.
Draw two concentric circles on a flat board and place a nail at the center of the
circles. The nail must be absolutely erect. Place the board perfectly level and locate
it so that the sun will fall on it from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.
As the morning shadow shortens, mark the spot where the tip of the shadow
touches the outer circle. When the afternoon shadow lengthens, mark where the

Fig. 16. Find true north.

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Lawrence E. Jones

tip of the shadow touches the outer circle again. Make two similar marks on the
inner circle as a check or in case the sun goes behind a cloud at the critical time.
Connect the two points on each circle with the center point, and bisect each angle.
The composite of these two bisectors will be a true north-south line (see Figure
16).
Section 6 The Geometric Method
Historically, geometric methods preceded trigonometric methods
for finding the hour lines. Indeed, the geometric methods
remained the more popular of the two. Each writer apparently
felt obliged to devise his or her own method. Originality seemed
more important than simplicity, for many of the old methods are very difficult to
follow. The mathematical foundations for these methods were frequently omitted.
The method presented here is reasonable and easily followed. The necessary tools
are protractor, straightedge, and compass.

Fig. 17. Geometric layout for latitude 42.

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Geometric Layout for the Sundial Hour lines (see Figure 17)

1. Draw line AB and erect a perpendicular from B.

2. At A, draw AC, making angle BAC equal to your latitude.
3. Measure CD equal to CA.
4. Draw EF perpendicular at D with DE and DF equal to DB.
5. Connect B with E, and B with F.
6. Make GH perpendicular at C, and drop GI and HJ perpendicular to EF.
7. At E, B, and F, draw arcs of radius BC.
8. Divide these arcs into 15-degree sectors, and extend each radius until it meets a
side of the rectangle GHIJ.
9. The lines drawn from D to these points of intersection are the hour lines for a
sundial at your latitude.
10. The dialface may be circular, elliptic, pentagonal, hexagonal, or as you please.
The desired shape is placed symmetrically on the DC line. If you are making a
sundial of material heavier than cardboard, you must allow for the thickness of the
gnomon (as explained on page 29).
Section 7 The Sundial Formula
The above construction, and also the table of hour angles in an
earlier paragraph, are based on the sundial formula:
tan = sin tan 15n .
This formula will generate the hour angles for the garden-type horizontal sundial.
The value is the angle measure for each hour line, the value is the local latitude,
and the value n is the number of hours from noon. The formula is necessary
because the angles for the hour lines are all different.
To understand the derivation of this formula, it is helpful first to consider a simpler
type of sundial on which all the hour shadow lines are uniformly spaced at 15
degrees. Such a dial is called an equatorial dial, taking its name from the equator of
the earth. Suppose the earth to be hollow and the outside globe to be transparent.
Suppose also that the equator is a plane through the center of the earth, and the axis
that connects the north and south poles is a long straight rod. Suppose further that
there is a fictitious sun that rotates around the earth at a uniform speed and that it
stays within the extended plane of the equator. This fictitious sun is often called the
mean sun. It requires twenty-four hours for the mean sun to travel one revolution,
through the 360 degrees of the equator. If lines were drawn radiating from the
center of the earth and spaced every 15 ( 360 24 ) degrees, each line would
represent one hour of time. Any particular hour of the day would be indicated by
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Lawrence E. Jones

the shadow cast by the axis rod. The illustration of this, in Figure 18, is an
equatorial sundial.

Fig. 18. The sun revolving around the earths axis casts a shadow on the equatorial plane.

Actually the earth is not hollow, nor is it transparent, but if an equatorial dial were
made and placed on the surface of the earth at the equator, with its circular dialface
in line with the equatorial plane and its
rod parallel to the earth's axis, it would
indicate each hour in exactly the same
way. In fact this equatorial dial could
be placed anywhere on earth, as long
as the circular dial face remained
parallel to the earth's equatorial plane,
and its rod (gnomon) was parallel to
the earth's north-south axis (see Figure
19).
The earth is inclined at 23.4 degrees
with respect to the real sun, and
because of this, the shadow appears on
the top side of the equatorial dialface
in summer, and on the underside of the
dial face in winter. Thus, for year
round use, the equatorial sundial
requires the hour lines to be drawn on
both surfaces.

The Sundial And Geometry

Fig. 19: The equatorial dial, when moved away

from the equator, will be slanted to a person
viewing it.
Page 17

An equatorial sundial at some northern latitude will appear tilted because we view
it from the perspective of our local horizon. It is desirable, however, that a sundial
face be parallel to the local horizon. The solution, then, is to translate the hour
lines from the equatorial dial to a horizontal dialface. Notice in Figure 20 that the
angle between the gnomon and the horizontal dialface must be equal to the local
latitude angle.
The plane of the local horizon, shown oblique (inclined) in Figure 20, is shown
level, as we experience it, in Figure 21. A vertical plane has been added. The
equatorial dial gnomon, although still parallel to the earth's axis, becomes oblique
in perspective to a person standing on the earth's surface at some distance from the
equator.

Fig. 20: The equatorial dial is oblique to the horizon at an angle equal to the latitude.

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Fig. 21 The equatorial dial in relation to the horizontal and vertical dials.

Derivation of the Sundial Formula

Observe in Figure 21 that:

DCP = BCN = DCN = DBC = right angle
Let CDN = = hour angle
Let CDB = = latitude
Let BN = extension of hour line from the equatorial dial
For 1 o'clock, CBN = 15
For n o'clock, = 15n
In DBC: sin = BC DC , so BC = DC sin
In CBN: Let CBN = 15n
tan15n = CN BC
CN = BC tan 15n = DC sin tan 15n
In DCN: tan = CN DC = sin tan15n

Horizontal sundial formula:

tan = sin tan 15n

The formula for the vertical sundial can be found in similar manner to be:
tan = cos tan15n

The Sundial And Geometry

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Section 8 The Alignment Chart Method

Geometric constructions and trigonometric formulae have
been presented. There is a third technique by which a sundial
may be delineated called dialing scales. The alignment chart
or nomogram presented here (Figure 23) is original to this writer, but there is no
question that others have also created the same or similar scales. Mine is based on
the basic sundial formula tan = sin tan 15n and is, therefore, a convenient way
to determine the hour angles for any latitude.
The alignment chart is used by holding a string taut across the chart (see Figure
22). The string (or ruler!) must cross the appropriate latitude on the left scale
labeled "Latitude", and the other end of the string must cross the desired hour on
the right scale marked "Hour". The reading where the string crosses the inner scale
marked "Degree" will be the correct angle to use on the sundial face. The afternoon
hours are measured to the right of the 12 o'clock noon line, and the morning hours,
which are symmetric to those of the afternoon, are measured to the left. The 6
o'clock line is perpendicular to the noon line.

Fig. 22. Nomogram for sundial hour angles (latitude 42).

Frank Cousins (see Bibliography) presents a dialing scale that is triangular in pattern. This scale,
invented in 1638 by Samuel Foster, has the further advantage that, instead of simply calculating the
required angle, it allows you to lay the angle out on the dial face.
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Lawrence E. Jones

Fig. 23. Nomogram for sundial hour angles (as redrawn by F.W. Sawyer)

The Sundial And Geometry

Page 21

III

Etched dialface c1920. The month is read from the inside circular scale of the declination of the
sun. With the date known, the equation of time chart is consulted, and the sundial reading is
converted to clock time.

CORRECTIONS TO THE SUNDIAL READING

Section 9 Conversion from Sun Time to Clock Time
The natural phenomenon of the earth's varying speed in its elliptic orbit and the
manner in which the earth's axis tilts away from or towards the sun as the seasons
change make the hours from the real sun irregular and uneven, whereas the mean
sun assumes a uniform speed and equal hours. Clocks also operate at a uniform
speed, with equal hours, giving mean time. Although the difference between sun
time and clock time may vary by as much as seventeen minutes, neither time
should be thought of as less accurate than the other. It is simply a matter of
translation. This difference is known as the equation of time, which is shown in
Figure 24 as a graph. During the months when the sundial is slow, the correction
is added to the sundial reading; during the months when the sundial is fast, the
correction is subtracted from the sundial reading. The derivation of the equation of
time will be investigated in the following section.

In astronomy, the word equation refers to an amount which must be added to or subtracted from the
result of an observation or calculation in order to compensate for a known cause of error or irregularity.
Do not confuse this use of the word with the more familiar mathematical equation.

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Lawrence E. Jones

A second correction of
sundial time first became
necessary in the 1880s
as
the
rai1roads,
figuratively
speaking,
brought cities closer
together. To understand
this, it is necessary to
define noon as that time
in the day when the sun
is at its highest point and
crosses
the
local
meridian. This time is
assigned 12 o'clock.
Fig. 24
When
people
lived
pretty much in their own areas, it didn't matter that when it was noon in Boston it
was only 11:14 in Cleveland, and when the sun traveled westward to cross the
meridian at Cleveland it was 12:44 in Boston. However, this was a great
inconvenience to the railroad in making timetables for its trains.
The solution came with the invention of zone time, also called standard time.
Starting at Greenwich, England, time zones were laid around the earth roughly
every 15 degrees of longitude. This
placed four time zones across the
United States (see Figure 25).
Meridians 75, 90, 115, and 120 are at
the center of the Eastern time zone, the
Central time zone, the Mountain time
zone, and the Pacific time zone
respectively. The lines separating time
zones are very irregular because they
follow geographic and population
clusters for convenience. The Eastern
Standard Time zone, for instance,
extends eastward from the 75th
meridian to include Boston and
westward to include Cleveland, and all
clocks in the zone will be set at the
same time, based on 12 noon when the Fig. 25. The time zones of North America
sun crosses the 75th meridian.
The Sundial And Geometry

Page 23

The sundial will still indicate the local time, even though all clocks will indicate
the same standard time. In Boston (71st meridian) the sundial will indicate noon
when the sun is on the meridian, but Eastern Standard Time (EST) won't indicate
noon until the sun reaches the 75th meridian. Since the sun requires 4 minutes to
travel one degree westward, it will require 16 minutes to travel 4 degrees of
longitude from Boston to the central meridian of the time zone. Therefore, in
Boston the sundial will always be 16 minutes fast. At 12 noon EST the sundial at
Cleveland (83rd meridian) is 8 degrees of longitude away, so the sun will require
32 (8 x 4) minutes to reach there, and, therefore, a sundial in Cleveland will always
be 32 minutes slow. This is called longitude correction, and once it is determined
for any area, it remains the same through the year.
RULE: To find the longitude correction, find the difference between the local
longitude and the appropriate central meridian. Multiply this difference by four to
get the minutes of correction. For areas east of the central meridian, the sundial is
fast, so subtract this correction from the sundial reading to get standard time. For
areas west of the central meridian the sundial is slow, so add this correction to the
sundial reading to get standard time.
These two corrections can be combined into a single correction by adding the
longitude correction to the equation of time correction and writing the combined
values as the scale on the right side of the chart in Figure 24. For example,
Hartford (72nd meridian) is 3 degrees from the central meridian, so it is 12 minutes
fast. The correction is made by subtracting 12 from the scale on the left, giving the
values: +3, -2, -7, -12, -22, -27. These numbers are written on the right side of
Figure 24. Using this new scale, the graph will translate sundial time in Hartford to
standard time within one to two minutes of accuracy.
Section 10 The Equation of Time
Just as one can drive a car without understanding how the engine
works, one can also use the equation of time graph (Figure 24)
without understanding the details of its derivation. In a similar
manner, casual readers may omit this section without
jeopardizing their understanding of the following sections.
There are two factors that enter into the equation of time. The real sun moves with
irregular speed relative to the earth, and its orbit is oblique to the equatorial plane
of the earth. These two factors should first be considered separately and then
together.
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Lawrence E. Jones

The irregular speed of the real sun westward through the heavens is caused by the
eccentricity of the earth's orbit. Kepler long ago discovered that the earth's orbit is
elliptical rather than circular. He also
showed that the earth will sweep equal
area in equal time, as shown in Figure 26.
The sun is at one focal point of the
ellipse; thus, the radius in winter (in the
northern hemisphere) is less than in
summer; hence, the earth's speed along
the orbit must be faster in winter and
slower in summer. This change in speed
effects a change in the length of the
average day. A day is caused by the
earth's rotation on its own axis 360
Fig. 26.
Equal area in equal time.
degrees from noon to noon. But as it
(Ellipticity greatly exaggerated.)
rotates on its axis, the earth is also in
orbital motion, and must, therefore, rotate more than 360 degrees to complete one
day (see Figure 27). In winter, when the earth orbits faster than average, it travels
farther, so it requires additional rotation to complete the day. In summer, the
slower speed of orbit requires less than average rotation to complete the day.
This factor alone would cause the equation of time (the difference between sun
time and clock time) to be zero on January 1 and July 1, and the values between
would reach approximately eight minutes.
Perhaps this phenomenon can be more readily visualized if we let the average
excess beyond the 360 degrees rotation be identified with the fictitious mean sun in
orbit at a uniform speed and let the change to more or less than average be
identified with the real sun in apparent orbit at speeds sometimes faster and
sometimes slower than the mean sun. Both suns will complete one full orbit in one
year, but their relative positions will vary back and forth.
The equation of time is identified by
the distance the two suns are apart.
When the real sun is at its slower-thanaverage speed, it trails the mean sun.
It will slowly accelerate and begin to
catch up, which it does when at its
fastest speed. At the moment it passes
the mean sun, it starts to decelerate;
however, it is still moving faster than
The Sundial And Geometry

Fig. 27. Angle AA is the additional rotation

beyond 360 required to complete a day.
Page 25

the mean sun, so it pulls ahead. As it continues to slow down, it will reach speeds
less than that of the mean sun. The mean sun, at its constant speed, begins to catch
up, doing so when the real sun is at its minimum speed; one year is completed, and
the process begins again.
The fastest and the slowest speeds occur on January 1 and July 1, so the two suns
are coincident on those dates, making the equation of time zero on those dates.
The plane in which the real sun orbits around the earth is oblique by 23.44 degrees
to the equatorial plane of the earth. This oblique orbit is called the ecliptic and is
caused by the earth's axis being tilted 23.44 degrees to the plane of its own orbit
around the sun. This is what causes the sun to reach 23.44 degrees above the
earth's equatorial plane on June 21 (summer solstice), and to dip 23.44 degrees
below the earth's equatorial plane on December 21 (winter solstice). This angle of
declination of the sun is zero on March 21 and September 22 (the equinoxes) when
the sun crosses the equatorial plane.
To study the effect of the inclination of the earth, the two suns may again be used.
The real sun will follow the ecliptic around the earth, traveling at a uniform rate.
The mean sun will orbit in the equatorial plane at the same uniform rate as the real
sun. Let the two suns be together at the vernal equinox, as shown in Figure 28.
In a given length of time, the mean sun will travel along the equator as vector M.
In the same given time, the real sun follows the ecliptic along vector R for the
same distance, but its horizontal component R', projected onto the equator, is less
than M. Here the mean sun is ahead of the real sun, and will continue to gain until
the real sun has climbed to its maximum latitude, 23.44 degrees, where its
direction becomes parallel to the equator and its honzontal component equals R
and equals M. However, as the real sun approaches its maximum height, its
projection has grown larger than the vector M, and therefore the real sun, by the
time it reaches its solstice, has caught up to the mean sun so that they are both at
the same meridian.
By this factor alone, the equation of
time (the difference) will be zero four
times a year: the two equinoxes and
the two solstices, or about the 21st of
March,
June,
September,
and
December. Its greatest difference,
about ten minutes, will fall in between
these dates.
Fig. 28. This chart shows the effect of the 23
inclination of the earth to the equatorial plane.
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Lawrence E. Jones

To find the complete equation of time, these two factors must be combined (see
Figure 29). The value of the eccentricity factor is plotted as a dotted line. The
value of the inclination factor is plotted as a dashed line. The combination is the
solid line, which is determined by adding the ordinates of the two factors for each
abscissa value. The actual equation of time will be zero four times a year, about
April 25, June 14, September 1, and December 25. Notice that the equation never
differs by more than seventeen minutes.
One further point should be mentioned. If the equation of time is plotted on a
horizontal scale of minutes, and the months are plotted on a vertical scale

Fig. 29. The equation of time is a composite of the additions of the

ordinates of the two sine-like graphs.

according to their declination values of the sun, the resulting graph is the
analemma, the large figure-eight shaped diagram found on globes of the world.
Section 11 Adjusting the Dial for Exact Longitude
The longitude correction, once determined for a given location, remains the same
throughout the year. This correction can, therefore, be
incorporated into the delineation of the hour lines.
To adjust the geometric construction given in Figure 17 to
include this correction, subtract the local longitude from the
central meridian longitude of the appropriate time zone (as
detailed in the previous section). The longitude in Figure 30, for
example, is 72 degrees, and the central meridian is 75, so the
The Sundial And Geometry

Page 27

correction is 3 degrees. Since the location is east of the central meridian, the
correction is positive, so it is added to the right of the BC line, creating a BC' line
that is then used as the base line for measuring the 15-degree arcs. A negative
correction is called for if the location is west of the central meridian, and the
correction would be measured to the left of the BC line. The correction in Figure
30 is positive 3 and is, therefore, measured counterclockwise.

Fig. 30. Layout for latitude 42 longitude 72.

To alter the sundial formula to include this correction, first determine the
correction in degrees and then convert to minutes of time. Each degree of
longitude represents 4 minutes of time. For Figure 30 the correction is 12 (3 x 4)
minutes. The number of minutes is next converted to a decimal fraction of the
hour, which for the example is 0.2 hours (12 min./60 min. per hour). The
correction of 0.2 is added to the n in the formula, which becomes:
tan = sin 42 tan 15(n + 0.2)
To express the corrected formula in general, let f be the decimal factor (a positive
or negative value), which is added algebraically to n: tan = sin tan 15(n + f )

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Lawrence E. Jones

Fig. 31. Completed dialface for 12 minutes

longitude correction. Light rules me.

Fig. 32. An elaborate classroom cardboard

sundial. Motto: Time flies. The picture of
the fly is a pun on the motto.

In making the cardboard classroom sundial, no allowance is necessary for the

thickness of the gnomon.
However, if a dial of heavier material is desired, say one-quarter or one-half inch
plywood, pine wood, or metal, an allowance must be made for the thickness of the
gnomon. Instead of one line DC (as
in Figures 14a and 17), there must be
two parallel lines DC the same
distance apart as the thickness of the
gnomon (see Figure 33). The A.M.
hours would be measured from the
left parallel DC line, and the P.M.
hours would be measured from the
right parallel DC line. Note, however,
the hours before 6 A.M. and after 6
P.M. are measured from the opposite
DC line; e.g., the 7 P.M. line is an
extension of the 7 A.M. line.

Fig. 33: Allowance for gnomon thickness.

The Sundial And Geometry

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IV

SOME CLASSICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Section 12 Mottoes and Meditations
Like the weather, time is a popular subject for discourse, ranging from casual
conversation about its fleeting nature to profound interpretation of time as a fourth
dimension. Perhaps it would be well to pause a moment to meditate on time.
Time is: Too slow for those who wait,
Too swift for those who fear,
Too long for those who grieve,
Too short for those who rejoice.
But for those who love-time is eternity. Henry Van Dyke

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Lawrence E. Jones

Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set
with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever!
- Horace Mann
Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things; the past is gone, the future
is not come, and the present becomes the past, even while we attempt to define it,
and, like the flash of the lightning, at once exists and expires. - John Cotton
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A
time to be born, and a time to die.A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that
which is planted.-Ecc. 3:1-8
...he drew a dial from his poke, and looking on it with lack-luster eye, Says, very
wisely, 'It is ten o'clock'. - William Shakespeare
O God! methinks it were a happy life
To be no better than a homely swain;
To sit upon a hill, as I do now,
To carve out dials quaintly, point by point,
Thereby to see the minutes how they run,
How many make the hour full complete;
How many hours bring about the day;
How many days will finish up the year;
How many years a mortal man may live.
- William Shakespeare
Hide not your talents. They for use were made.
What's a sundial in the shade ?
-Benjamin Franklin
Much of the charm of sundials is in the mottoes they display. Some are crude
witticisms, some reflect on life, some admonish or warn not to linger, some are
hopeful, some are philosophical, some are religious, all are fascinating.
Inanimate objects often seem to develop a personality of their own. We look at
them as almost human. For instance, craftspersons often personify their tools, and
musicians treat their instruments like friends. Computer operators frequently think
their machines are human - they receive information, make decisions, and
communicate back in words.
The sundial, too, becomes to many a friend to admire. For a sundial is a sentinel,
always ready to give its knowledge to any viewer. Not only does it give the time on
a sunny day, but it tirelessly waits out the cloudy sky, ready to give its truth even if
only for the instant or two when the sun is able to break a slight path through the
clouds.

The Sundial And Geometry

Page 31

Many are the lessons the silent sundial teaches. And we learn so much more when
a sundial speaks to us in mottoes. Its messages are succinct, yet often cryptic; they
always speak some good advice.
The Clock and the Dial
A Clock happened to fall mto conversatIon with a Dial. One cloudy forenoon,
when the sun did not shine, the Clock said to the Dial, what a mean slavery do
you undergo; you cannot tell the hour unless the sun pleases to inform you. I can
tell the hour at any time, and would not be in such a dependent state as you are in
for the world: night and day are both alike to me: it is just now twelve O clock.
Upon this the sun shone forth under the cloud, and shewed the exact time of the
day: it was half an hour past twelve. The Dial then replied to the Clock, "You may
now perceive that boasting is not good: for you see you are wrong: it is better to be
under direction and follow truth, than to be eye to ones self and go wrong.
-Bewick's Fables, 1820
All in good time.

Time on my hands.

As time goes by.

A time to live.

A little at a time.

A stitch in time saves nine.

Time marches on.

Remember the time. ..

Today is the tomorrow

You worried about yesterday.

A clock the time may wrongly tell;

I, never, if the sun shine well.

As a thief in the night

Taken Idly Motivates Evil.

As time and hours do pass away,

So doth the life of man decay.
So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
CARPE DIEM Use well the day.
COELI ENARRANT GLORIAM DEI The heavens declare the glory of God.
DEFICIT SOL, NEMO RESPICIT When the sun sinks, of the dial no one thinks.
DISCE DIES NUMERARE TUOS Learn to number thy days.
DOCEO HORAS I teach the time.
DUM LICET UTERE While time is given, use it.
EX IIS UNAM CAVE Beware of one of them.

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Lawrence E. Jones

FELICIBUS BREVIS,
The hour is short to the happy,
MISERIS HORA LONGA
Long to the miserable.
FESTINA LENTE Make haste slowly.
FIAT LUX Let there be light.
GOA BOU TYO URB US IN ESS Go about your business.
HORAM SOLE NOLENTE NEGO I tell not the hour when the sun will not.
HORAS NON NUMERO NISI SERENAS I count the bright hours only.
IN COELO QUIES In heaven is rest.
LAUS DEO Praise be to God.
LEX DEI LUX DIEI Gods law may be read in the light of the sun.
OMNES VULNERANT, ULTIMA NECAT Each one wounds, the last one kills.
OMNIA FALCE METIT TEMPUS Time reaps all things with a scythe.
PEREUNT ET IMPUTANTUR They (the hours) pass and are placed to our account.
QUI DOCET DISCIT One who teaches, learns.
SERIUS EST QUAM COGITAS It is later than you think.
SIC TRANSIT HORA Thus passes the hour.
SOL EST REGULA The sun is the rule.
SOL OMNIBUS LUCET The sun shines for all.
STA PROMISSIS Stand by your promises.
TEMPUS VINCIT OMNIA Time conquers all.
TRANSIT HORA, MANENT OPERA Time passes, deeds remain.
ULTIMA LATET UT OBSERVENTUR OMNES The last is hidden so we have to
watch them all !
UTERE NON REDITURA Use it, it won't come back.
VERA LOQUI AUT SILERE Speak the truth or be silent.
VITA UMBRA Life is a shadow.

Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

Time waits for no man (gnomon).

Now is yesterday's tomorrow.

I also am under authority.

Lifes but a shadow, mans but dust

This diall says: dy all we must.
As true as the dial to the sun
Although it be not shone upon.
The light of the sun is too bright for our eyes;
By its shadow then the time we derive.

The Sundial And Geometry

Page 33

Section 13 The Classical Sundials

The three dials considered in previous sections are the equatorial
dial, the horizontal dial, and the vertical dial facing south. These
sundials are part of a family of sundials for which the gnomon is
parallel to the polar axis of the earth. Sundials based on this
property are collectively referred to as the classical sundials.
Several more of this group are of interest.
The North-Facing Vertical Dial

The dialface of a vertical dial facing north is the same as the south-facing dial,
except that the hour lines are viewed from the north side. The gnomon on the
north side is a continuation of the gnomon on the south side. The diagrams in
Figure 34 show this relationship more clearly. Suppose that the dial faces are
painted onto the two sides of a transparent dial.

Fig. 34. Vertical dials facing south and north.

When the sun is shining on the south face, it

cannot also be shining on the north face. In
general, the south vertical dial receives
sunlight from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M., and the north
vertical dial receives sunlight from sunrise to
6 A.M. and again from 6 P.M. to sunset.
Fig. 35. Classical Cube Dial at Woods Hole

The north vertical dial is seldom used by Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole,
itself; it usually appears on cube dials and Cape Cod, MA.
pillar dials in combination with sundials
facing the other three cardinal directions (see Figure 35).

The North face of this cube dial is not visible in the photograph. For over 30 years the gnomon on the
north face has been upside-down so the dial does not work in the early morning or late afternoon.

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Lawrence E. Jones

The East and West Vertical Dials

As the south and north dials on the previous page have the same hour lines, so also
do the east and west dials. The gnomon on both the east and west dials will be
parallel to the dialface but rotated to equal the latitude angle (see Figure 35). The
mean sun rotates around the gnomon in a circular plane that is perpendicular to the
gnomon, so every 15 degrees of rotation represents one hour of time. The
construction layout is shown in Figure 36. The radius of the generating circle must
equal the height that the gnomon is above the dial face.

Fig. 36. Geometric layout for vertical dial facing east.

The distance that each hour line is from the base of the gnomon can easily be
found. The formula is: d = h tan 15n where n, as before, is the number of hours
away from noon; h is the height the gnomon is above the dial face. The sun will
shine on the east dial during the morning hours, and on the west dial during the
afternoon hours.
The Polar Dial
The polar dial is neither horizontal nor vertical but is raised at the north end by
rotation around the west-east axis to an angle equal to the local latitude. The
geometric construction is shown in Figure 37. The construction and the formula
are the same as used for the east and west dials. The only difference is the period
of sunlight. The polar dial should show the hours after 6am and before 6pm.
The Sundial And Geometry

Page 35

Fig. 37. Geometric layout for a polar dial. Motto: The sun shines for everyone .

Section 14 A Pseudo-Universal Sundial

When the derivation of a sundial formula does not use a specific
latitude angle, that dial is known as a universal dial and may be
used at any latitude. Such a dial must, however, be oriented so that
the gnomon is parallel to the polar axis of the earth. Of the dials
discussed so far, the equatorial dial, the armillary dial, and the
polar dial are universal dials.
The horizontal sundial, on the other hand, is
made for a specific latitude. It will not indicate
time correctly unless it is used at the latitude
for which it was calculated. But there might be
a time when a horizontal dial must be used at
some other latitude. Fortunately, there is a way
to devise a pseudo-universal dial. Simply
wedge the dial face on its west-east axis until
the shadow-casting edge of the gnomon
becomes parallel to the earth's axis. For
instance, a sundial made for a latitude of 40
degrees and used at latitude 20 degrees will
have to be wedged 20 degrees from the south
end; or, the same dial used at 60 degrees
latitude would be wedged 20 degrees from the
north end. The wedge angle is found as
follows:
Page 36

Fig. 38. Wedging can be used to

adjust a sundial for a different latitude.

Lawrence E. Jones

wedge angle = new latitude - dial latitude

When the wedge angle is negative, the wedge is applied from the south end. When
the wedge angle is positive, the wedge is applied from the north end (see Figure
38).
A similar technique will allow a south vertical dial to be used on a wall that does
not face true south; i.e., on a declining wall. In this instance, however, the wedge
is applied from the west side or the east side. In Figure 40 the wall declines 9
degrees to the east of south, so the wedges are applied from the east side.

Fig. 39 .

Fig. 40: A vertical line south dial wedged

9 degrees to accommodate a west
declining wall. The vertical line west dial
is also wedged 9 degrees.

The Sundial And Geometry

Page 37

Students using the analemmatic sundial (be your own gnomon).

FOUR SPECIAL SUNDIALS

Section 15 The Largest Sundial
People invariably seek information regarding the largest sundial. Two large
sundials come to mind.
Possibly the largest sundial in North America is located at Carefree, Arizona (see
Figure 41). Certainly it offers aesthetic enrichment, and perhaps it also serves as
an identifying symbol for sunny Arizona. This sundial is of the classic horizontal
type. The gnomon rises 35 feet, and the edge of the gnomon is 62 feet long.
Besides serving its main function of casting a shadow, the gnomon's 4-foot width
contains solar cells that utilize the sun's heat to supply a nearby building with hot
water. The scale of hours on the dialface requires a circle that is 90 feet in
diameter; the scale is graduated at ten-minute intervals.

Fig. 41 Possibly the largest sundial in North

America. Carefree, Arizona.
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Lawrence E. Jones

Fig. 42. The largest sundial in the world. Jaipur, India.

The largest sundial in the

world was built in 1724 at
Jaipur, India, by the Maharaja
Sawai Jai Singh II (See Figure
42). This sundial is of the
armillary type but with a
traditional triangular gnomon
that rises 90 feet above the
earth. The slanted edge is 118
feet long and 12 feet wide with
stairs leading to a small gazebo
at the top. The scale of hours is
marked on two quadrants of
90-foot radius that serve as the
periphery of an equatorial-type
dial. The shadow moves across
the curved surface about a foot
in
five
minutes
with
graduations marked for each
minute of time.

This massive structure covers almost an acre, and neither words nor picture can
adequately convey the awesome grandeur of its reality .
But on the surrealistic side, the giant gnomon with its staircase does suggest a
loading ramp to a fueled and ready moon rocket. The shadow moves across the
great arc indicating the countdown. One can easily imagine hearing the flight
engineer saying, "All systems are go. Four inches and counting."
Section 16 The Pelekinon Sundial
The pelekinon dial was discussed in a preceding section because
it represented an advance in the history of the sundial. The
caveman realized that a vertical gnomon casts a shadow of
varying length during the day; therefore, he could use the length
of the shadow as a gauge of the passing of the daylight hours.
By the time of the Egyptians, it was known that the length of the noon shadow in
the summer was shorter than the length of the noon shadow in the winter, thus the
passing of the seasons could also be recorded.
The Sundial And Geometry

Page 39

The Greeks, in addition,

realized that the path
traced by the tip of the
vertical gnomon traced
the path of a hyperbola
except at the equinoxes
when the path was a
straight line.
By Roman times more
lines were added that
could show the hours of
the day using the
direction as well as the
Fig. 43. The zodiac lines are drawn over the hour lines to create length of the shadow
the Pelekinon sundial.
(see Figure 43). But
these were all traced out by empirical methods. During the Golden Age, the
astronomers and mathematicians caught up with this early sundial and provided
geometric constructions and formulae which allowed the pelekinon to be
determined exactly.
But
the
construction
and
calculation methods for finding the
hour lines of the horizontal sundial
have been fully detailed in earlier
sections. These same hour lines are
used for the pelekinon.
The
calculation of the hyperbolic arcs
showing the seasons, however,
requires advanced understanding of
both astronomy and spherical
trigonometry. Therefore, with its
proof omitted, a construction
method will be outlined to draw the
seasonal
lines:
the
greatest
hyperbolic arc occurs about
December 21, and is called the
winter solstice; the shortest
hyperbolic arc occurs about June Fig. 44. Geometric construction of the zodiac lines.
21, and is called the summer
solstice; about March 21 and September 21, the equinox occurs, which is the time
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Lawrence E. Jones

of equal day and night, and it plots as a straight line. These lines are often called
the zodiac lines.
To Construct the Zodiac Lines

Refer to Figure 44:

1. Draw a line DC, running North-South.
2. At D, measure the latitude angle, CDL, in degrees.
3. From L, drop a perpendicular line to CD at K. The length LK is the height of the
gnomon, but the pin is shown lying flat. In use, it is rotated to straight-up position.
4. At L, draw a line perpendicular to LD, cutting DC at M.
5. From LM, measure MLW = 23.5 degrees, cutting DC at W.
From LM, measure MLS = 23.5 degrees, cutting DC at S.
(lines LW, LM, LS are known in the old dialing books as a Trigon)
6. Draw a line through M that is perpendicular to DC. This is the required
equinoctial line of the pelekinon. (The branches of the hyperbola will pass through
points Wand S.)
7. From D, draw an hour line. This illustration uses the regular 2 o'clock hour line
of the horizontal dial. This line cuts the equinoctial line at Q.
8. Using a compass, swing an arc of radius DQ to cut line LM at N. Extend the line
DN, which cuts line LW at T and lines LS at V.
9. Using the compass again, swing an arc of radius DV cutting line DQ at R. Swing
another arc of radius DT cutting line DQ at P.
10. Point P is a point of the desired upper hyperbola branch. Point R is a point of
the desired lower hyperbola branch.
11. Repeat steps 7 through 10 with the other hour lines.
12. Connect these points with a smooth line to complete each branch of the
hyperbola.
The pelekinon is now completed as shown in Figure 43. The original triangular
gnomon of the horizontal dial is now replaced by a pin at point K. The height of
the pin must equal the length LK. The time is indicated by the shadow of the tip of
the pin. Because the shadow always stays between the branches of the hyperbola,
the hour lines above and below the branches may be removed (see Figure 45).
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Page 41

The hyperbola for the other months can be drawn in a similar manner. The
appropriate angles of declination of the sun are given in table form in the appendix.
It is effective to place a mark on the noon line for each month where the shadow
will fall.

Fig. 45. Completed Pelekinon sundial. The pin, drawn flat, must be erect to the dialface for use.

Section 17 The South Vertical Declining Sundial

To place a south vertical dial directly onto the side of a building
would require that the building wall face true south. This usually
is not the case. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the hour lines
of the sundial to the declination of the wall. Declination is the
number of degrees the wall differs from exact south (see Figure
46). A wall that faces easterly, in a counter-clockwise rotation from exact south, is
said to have an east declination. A wall that faces westerly, in a clockwise rotation
from exact south, is said to have a west declination.
The first step is to determine the angle of declination of the wall. Two practical
ways are at hand: (1) Attach a small shelf to the wall, and make it exactly level.

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Lawrence E. Jones

Fig. 46. 20 declination westward. 30 declination eastward.

Determine true south by the pin and concentric circle

method described earlier (in Section 5). (2) Attach a
small shelf as in the first case, and then arrange a
plumb line above it (see Figure 47). Combine the
equation of time correction with the longitude
adjustment for the exact time of solar noon.
For instance, if the sun is eight minutes fast, record
where the shadow of the plumb line falls exactly eight

Fig. 47. To determine the

declination of a wall, the
shadow is cast at exact noon.

Fig.48. Geometric layout for south vertical declining

sundial.
The Sundial And Geometry

minutes before noon. Use a

good watch that has been set
by radio time. On the other
hand, if the sun is five
minutes slow, record the
shadow of the plumb line
exactly five minutes after
noon. The recorded shadow
Page 43

line is the true south-north line. The angle this line makes with a horizontal line
perpendicular to the wall is the angle of declination.
A perspective view is seen in Figure 48, in which a regular horizontal sundial is
resting on a horizontal plane and is properly aligned on the north-south line. The
wall is declined from the proper direction. The construction to be described will
translate the hour lines from the horizontal dial to the vertical declined surface. The
right triangle DCP is the gnomon triangle, with the edge DP (not drawn in Figure
48) parallel to the earth's axis.
Geometric Construction for South Vertical Declining Sundial (Figure 48)

1. HGIJ is a regular horizontal sundial.

2. The declination (westerly in this illustration) is measured from the line GCH at
C.
3. From C, draw CP perpendicular to
WM. The length CP is determined from
the gnomon triangle DCP (see Figure
49a).
4. Extend the hour lines of the horizontal
dial until they meet the declination line
WM.
5. Connect each of the points of step 4
with point P. These lines are the hour Fig. 49.
lines for the vertical declining dial. To see
this in perspective, fold the drawing along
the declination line bringing the flap up to
a vertical position. In this folded position,
the gnomon triangle DCP is oblique to the
face of the vertical dial. A gnomon
perpendicular to the vertical dial is
preferred.
6. From D, construct a line perpendicular
to the declination line WM at the point Q.
Connect PQ. In the folded position, the
triangle DQP becomes the gnomon
triangle that is perpendicular to the
vertical dialface. (Notice that the shadowcasting hypotenuse DP is the same line in
both gnomon triangles.)
Fig. 50. Completed vertical sundial with 17
west declination. Motto: Only the sun can
prove me useful.
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Lawrence E. Jones

7. To construct the gnomon triangle DQP it is necessary to construct a right

triangle with sides DQ and PQ (see Figure 49b).
8. A completed drawing is shown in Figure 50.
For the reader who enjoys a formula approach, the following formula, based on the
steps on the prior page, is offered.
tan =

cos
cot 15n cos d + sin sin d

Derivation of the South

Declining Dial Formula

Vertical

In Figure 51, CDN = is the hour angle

of the horizontal dial. CPN = is the
desired hour angle of the south vertical
declining dial. Let DC = unit length = 1.
1) In oblique DCN,
CN
DC
DC
, so
=
=
sin sin CND sin(90 + d )
CN = DC sin sin(90 + d ) .
[ CND = 180 (90 d ) = 90 + d ]

Fig. 51. A horizontal dial in relation with a

vertical declined dial.

2) In right PCD, tan = PC DC , so PC = DC tan

3) In right PCN, CPN = .
1
sin
DC sin
tan = CN PC =

=
sin(90 + d ) DC tan tan sin(90 + d )
Recall that sin = tan cos

tan cos
tan [sin(90 + d ) cos tan cos cos(90 + d )]
tan cos
=
sin
cos [sin(90 + d ) tan cos(90 + d )]
cos

tan =

Recalling the standard horizontal sundial formula, tan = sin tan 15n ,

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tan =

tan 15n

1
[sin(90 + d ) sin tan 15n cos(90 + d )]
cos
tan 15n cos
=
sin(90 + d ) sin tan 15n cos(90 + d )
cos
=
cot 15n sin(90 + d ) sin cos(90 + d )
cos
=
cot 15n cos d + sin sin d

which is the desired formula giving the required hour angle in terms of the
latitude , and the declination d of the wall. The number of hours from noon, n, is
negative for the morning hours and positive for the afternoon hours. Now, two
angles are needed. One for the gnomon, and one for placing the gnomon.
QPD is the angle at which the new gnomon will rise from the vertical dialface.
In right DCP: cos = DC DP = 1 DP . In right DQC: cos d = DQ DC = DQ .
In right DQP: sin DPQ = DQ DP = cos d cos
CPQ is the angle the gnomon is rotated from the vertical line PC.
In right DCP: tan = PC DC = PC 1 = PC .
In right DQC: sin d = CQ DC = CQ 1 = CQ .
In right PCQ: tan CPQ = CQ PC = sin d tan = sin d cot .

Section 18 Be Your Own Gnomon

The classical sundials presented above utilize the motion of the
sun relative to its path around the earth's polar axis. Two other
perspectives can also be utilized for indicating time. The altitude
of the sun is a measure of how high the sun is above the horizontal plane, such as
the caveman's pole dial where the length of the shadow changed according to the
height of the sun during the day. There are many modern (Golden Age and later)
portable dials based on the sun's altitude. These dials do not require orienting to
true north; they are used by pointing the sundial towards the sun.

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Lawrence E. Jones

The azimuth of the sun is a measure of rotation of the sun around the pole of the
horizontal plane; i.e., around an obelisk or vertical gnomon of our horizon. The
analemmatic dial is an azimuth-type dial (see Figure 52). It consists of an elllpse
on which the hour markings are placed and a vertical gnomon that can be
positioned on a scale of months. The time is indicated on the ellipse at the point
crossed by the shadow of the gnomon.

Fig. 52. Analemmatic sundial by plotting

abscissas and ordinates.

Fig. 53. Analemmatic Dial. Motto: The Light

and Shadow of God

The derivation of the formulae necessary for constructing an analemmatic dial is

somewhat involved. Although the formulae require a knowledge of astronomy and
solid geometry, they are convenient to use in their completed form. Let a northsouth line, and an east-west line be taken as axes. The hour points on the ellipse are
given by the equations:
x = sin 15n

y = sin cos15n ,
where n is the number of hours
away from noon (thus n = 1 for
both 11 A.M. and 1 P.M.), and is
the local latitude. Suppose an
analemmatic dial is desired for
Winnipeg, which has a latitude of
= 50. Repeated applications of
these formulae are summarized in
Table A.
The scale of months must next be
calculated, and the formula for this
is:
M = tan d cos

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Page 47

where is the local latitude and d

is the declination, or degrees by
which the sun is above or below the
equatorial plane of the earth. Table
B gives the declinations for the first
day of each month and the values
of M, the measure above or below
the x-axis that corresponds to each
month. While the declination
values are independent of any
specific location, the M values are
different for each latitude. The
scale of months is marked on the yaxis; the width of the scale is
optional. The movable gnomon is
placed over the current month on
the y-axis.
An alternate method of delineating
the analemmatic dial is of interest. Draw the ellipse first, then locate the hour
marks by rays radiating from the center. To do this, use the coordinate formulae
above. By letting n = 6, the point (1,0) is on the x-axis and marks off the length of
the major axis
of the ellipse.
Let this be of
unit length. By
letting n = 0,
the point (0, sin
) is on the yaxis and marks
off the minor
axis of the
ellipse.
The
equation of the
ellipse becomes
x2
y2
+
=1
12 sin 2
Fig. 54. Analemmatic sundial by central angle and ray. The scale of months
is enlarged for clarity. It would be placed on line OY as shown in Figure
52.
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Lawrence E. Jones

After sketching the graph, the hour marks are found by a ray from the center
cutting the ellipse. The angle of the ray is measured to the right or left from OY
and is found by the formula
tan =

tan 15n
sin

Table C shows the values of for each hour.

Joseph Jrome De Lalande, a French astronomer and dialist of the eighteenth

century, suggested that an analemmatic dial be laid out on a garden plot or patio,
duly proportioned to about a 20-foot diameter, and the scale of months also
properly proportioned but with the gnomon missing. Then the viewer can become
the gnomon. By standing appropriately on the month scale, with back to the sun,
the viewer will see his or her own shadow stretch across the ellipse and indicate the
correct time.

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Page 49

Bibliography 1979
1. Cousins, Frank W., Sundials. London: John Baker Publishers limited,
1972.
2. Dolan, Winthrop W., A Choice of Sundials. Brattleboro, Vermont:
Stephen Green Press, 1975.
3. Earle, Alice Morse. Sun-Dials and Roses of Yesterday. Rutland,
Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1971 (orig. 1901).
4. Lynch, Kenneth. Sundials and Spheres. Canterbury, Connecticut: The Canterbury Publishing
Company, 1971 (A catalog of sundials.)
5. Marshall, Roy K. Sundials. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1967.
6. Mayall, R. N. and Mayall, M. L. Sundials - How to Know, Use, and Make Them. Cambridge,
Massachusetts: Sky Publishing Company, 1973. Third edition, 2000, Dover Publications, NY.
7. Rohr, Rene R. J. Sundials, History Theory and Practice. University of Toronto Press, 1970. Reprinted
in 1996, Dover Publications, NY.
8. Short, Leonard V. Sundials and More. New Ipswich, New Hampshire (A catalog of sundials.)
9. Waugh, Albert E. Sundials, Their Theory and Construction. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1973.

Bibliography 2005
Since the original edition of this booklet, many new books on dialing have appeared. This is a sampling
of introductory texts written in English.
10. Brandmaier, Harold E., A Sundial For Your Garden, Highland Park NJ, 1995.
11. Daniel, Christopher St. J. H., Sundials, Shire Publications, 1986 & 2004.
12. Drinkwater, Peter, The Art Of Sundial Construction, Shipston-on-Stour, 1985 & 1996.
13. Wheaton-Smith, Simon, Illustrating Shadows, Silver City NM, 2005.
The North American Sundial Society has also published on CD several facsimile reproductions of old
dialing texts as well as a quarterly journal of (technical) developments in the field of gnomonics.

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